I recently visited Victoria Falls for a work trip. That indeed is nothing to complain about, mainly since Victoria Falls or Vic Falls, as it is commonly known, was an item on my bucket list. We only had half a day to explore the falls, but I wanted to share some of our stunning Victoria Falls pictures!

We visited Victoria Falls in November, which is low water season. This did not make a difference; the Falls was beautiful and much larger than we had anticipated. I suppose high water season will be even more impressive!

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Victoria Falls facts

The Victoria Falls National Park, the location of the Victoria Falls, is a 7-minute drive from the center of the Victoria Falls town in Zimbabwe. Taxis are available from all hotels, and their rates are reasonable. The Victoria Falls are on the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia.

According to historical information, David Livingstone found the falls in 1855. He named it after Queen Victoria of Brittian, but the indigenous name of the Victoria Falls is Mosi-oa-Tunya, which means the smoke that thunders.

The Victoria Falls is the largest sheet of falling water in the world with a hight of 108 meters and a width of 1,708 meters.

Best time to visit Victoria Falls

The Victoria Falls entrance opens at 6:00 in the morning and closes at 18:00. We arrived there around 8:30. I thought this was a good time as it was starting to get warm, but was still cold enough to enjoy walking around the Falls. By the time we left, which was around 10:00, buses full of tourists were stopping in the parking area opposite the Victoria Falls entrance. I suspect the busiest times may be mid-day.

I would not recommend going between 11:00 and 15:00. This is the warmest part of the day, and in Africa, the sun is dangerously hot between these hours. Either go early like we did, or try going later.

Victoria Falls entrance fee

There is no standard fee for entrance to Victoria Falls. As we are from South Africa, we paid $15, while the Americans behind us had to pay $20. Our hotel had informed us it would be $18 per person, so it seems they change the price as they see fit.

The American couple behind us at the Victoria Falls entrance thought they could enter for free as they were staying a hotel nearby, but based on what the cashier said it seems that everyone has to pay, regardless of which hotel you are staying at.

Victoria Falls facts information

After paying the entrance fee, you enter the Victoria Falls National Park. From here there are some walls with information sheets giving some details about the Zambezi River, how the Victoria Falls change throughout the year and also how the Victoria Falls are one of the seven wonders of the world.

Just beyond this point is a souvenir shop selling all kinds of African soft toys, fridge magnets and also some more African souvenirs.

Victoria Falls pictures from the viewpoints

From here we started walking towards the Victoria Falls. The Victoria Falls National Park has markers everywhere, and it will be difficult to get lost. Guided walking tours are available for Victoria Falls available for purchase, and we saw many groups utilizing these tour guides.

There is some wildlife in the park, and we came across a warthog almost as soon as we started on the walking route.

We first visited the statue of David Livingstone. There is apparently another statue on the Zambian side of the falls, but the Zimbabwean statue was impressive!

The statue of David Livingstone is at the side of the Victoria Falls. From here we could see the falls continuing far in the distance.

We continued walking all along the falls. The sound of the falls was thunderous, and the spray reached everywhere. Lucky we had been warned and had taken rain jackets with us. Other people had their cameras in ziplock bags. Since it was warming up quickly, we found the spray refreshing.

There are many viewpoints, we counted 14, and those were only the ones we managed to see. I am sure there are quite a few more if one carried on further. From each viewpoint, the falls looked stunning and gave us a different perspective from which to take Victoria Falls pictures. There were many rainbows everywhere, just adding to the charm of the falls.

We eventually arrived at an area where the falls looked much drier. According to the markers, these were the gorges. Even though they were dry, they were still beautiful.

We walked from viewpoint to viewpoint until we only had enough time to walk back to the entrance where our taxi was waiting for us.

The Victoria Falls National Park scenery

The Victoria Falls National Park was full of contrasting scenery. I found it so interesting that I had to add some pictures of the scenery to my collection of Victoria Falls pictures!

All along the falls it was lush and green, while it was brown and dry more in-land and then there were patches of greenery all around. I was grateful for the protection of the trees against the sun.

Other facilities in the Victoria Falls National Park

As we completed our walk back to the Victoria Falls entrance, we noticed that there was a restaurant as well. If we had time, having a cold drink, there would have been refreshing!

There was also art pieces located near the restaurant and souvenir shop.

Our verdict

We loved the Victoria Falls. As you can hopefully see from our Victoria Falls pictures, the falls are stunning and impressive even though it was still low water season. We would like to return when it is high season and perhaps try the Zambian side of the falls!

Have you ever been to Victoria Falls? Did you enjoy the experience? How did it compare to other waterfalls you have visited?

It was still too early for me to check-in to the Leoneck Hotel in Zurich. I decided to visit the Rheinfalls near Schaffhausen. My neighbor on the flight from Johannesburg to Zurich had warned me that it might rain since the region had been experiencing a lot of rain over the past few days. Fortunately for me, it looked like a lovely day – warm but cloudy. Perfect for sightseeing. She had also told me that the Rheinfalls would be very impressive to see because of all the rainfall of the past few weeks. I was excited to be going there!

Getting to the Rheinfalls near Schaffhausen

I took the train from Zurich to Winterthur. In Winterthur, I had to change trains in 4 minutes! From Winterthur, I went to Schloss Laufen, Rheinfall with the train. The entire journey took less than an hour.

Choices when you get to the Rheinfalls near Schaffhausen

Upon arrival, I looked around a bit. It appeared that there were two ways to get to the falls. The one way was to take a lift down, and the other was to walk down following a little footpath. I thought the footpath would be more fun. I went to the ticket counter and bought my ticket.

Off I went. I saw this view of the falls from the top of the footpath.

The scenery around the falls was also nice with traditional looking mills and houses.

Along the footpath, there were several lookout points. As I walked down, the roar of the falls became louder and louder.

This lookout is right next to the falls, and it almost feels as if the water is going to reach you – the spray from the water does fall on you! A little bit scary and yet exhilarating at the same time!

I eventually reached the bottom of the footpath and came to a docking area. There was a blue boat there, ready to take us across the lake.

Crossing the lake

Upon arrival on the other side of the lake, I realized that there were three different colored boats – each with a different route. The yellow boat took people to the rock in the middle of the Rheinfalls, where they then get out and climb to the top. It looked like everyone got soaked going there. Then there was the red boat which took people a little down the river and then looped in front of the falls and the rock. The blue boat I came with fetches people from the other side of the river and also sailed to the front of the rock and the falls.

I decided first to take a walk on the side of the river I was at. I walked past Schlossli Worth – it had been used for shipping and loading many many years ago – but was now a restaurant and souvenir shop.

I then reached a souvenir shop with a bright orange train-like vehicle parked right next to it. I absolutely could not resist taking the tour on this train!

Touring Schaffhausen on the train

There were not many people on the train. We drove through Schaffhausen and stopped at several places to drop people off and also to take pictures and walk around for a few minutes.

We eventually stopped near the Rheinfalls. The falls were deafening at this point, but it was also nice to see it from this angle.

After this stop, we went back to the starting point of our journey. There were some lovely parks along the way.

Getting close to the Rheinfalls near Schaffhausen

I decided that I had seen enough of the Rheinfalls and bought a ticket to go back to the other side of the river with the blue boat again except this time we made a loop right in front of the falls.

Getting so close to the falls was magnificent! The falls were thunderous and powerful. It sprayed us even though we were not that close to it. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

If you are staying in Zurich and looking for a day trip out of the city, visiting the Rheinfalls near Schaffhausen is the perfect trip for you!

Have you been to the Rheinfalls? Is there another waterfall that you loved visiting?